Cyclone cuts off contact with two Solomon islands

The fate of 3,000 villagers was unknown last night after a cyclone raged through the Solomon Islands, cutting off all contact with two remote outer islands.

Authorities in the capital, Honiara, have had no word from the outer islands of Tikopia and Anuta since Cyclone Zoe swept across the Pacific towards Fiji at the weekend.

Early plans to send a rescue ship to the islands at the extreme western end of the archipelago were abandoned when the Solomon Islands government, bankrupted by civil war, could not afford fuel for the 600-mile voyage.

Yesterday the Australian government agreed to meet the cost of fuel for the rescue mission, which is now due to leave today.